


Billy and Heather's Strange Adventure

by soufflegirl123



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, F/F, Fix-It, Gay Billy Hargrove, M/M, Other, Post-Season/Series 03, Queerplatonic Relationships, Slow Burn, Steve and Robin are not in the first few chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-08-14 13:04:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20192752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soufflegirl123/pseuds/soufflegirl123
Summary: Post Season 3 except there was no song, everything happened minutes faster, and no one died except Heather's parents really.Billy is finally going to escape Neil, and Heather is along for the ride. Both of them leave behind their unrequited crushes to try to find their own lives.  Super domestic with a queerplatonic relationship at first. However, the Upside Down never truly leaves, and Heather and Billy find themselves reuniting with Robin and Steve for less than pleasant reasons.*****Billy had never thought his life would come to this. Bent over a public bathroom sink with his bare ass in the air and lesbian on her knees behind him. Nope. This was definitely not how he had planned on spending his 18th birthday.





	1. Chapter 1

He had always planned to move out of Hawkins the day he turned eighteen and not even Russians, mind possession, or a shit ton of scars covering his body was going to prevent that. Nope. For everyone else, their lives had changed. They were dealing with trauma, learning what it felt like. Billy knew trauma. His whole life so far had been spent looking over his shoulder for the next danger, adding secret government agencies and weirder looking monsters had not changed much. El had been the one to fill him in when government officials had stormed the mall collecting evidence. He still wasn’t sure how she had done it given that her powers were on the fritz. She thought it had something to do with the recent connection. She had linked to him again though, almost unknowingly, and Billy had gotten plenty of information, more than enough. Possibly he had gotten more than even El thought she had because as an outsider he could see details that she had missed. There had been little time to talk. After days of possession, suddenly he was being rushed around so that all of it could be erased 

Hopper got there in time to keep them from being interrogated for longer than a few minutes, saying that he could fill in the information himself. Joyce had kept the kids from signing NDAs by reminding both them and the government officials that it wasn’t legal for children to sign contracts and that all it was was some big scare tactic to try to get them to keep their mouths shut. Who would believe them anyway? Hopper, Joyce, Byers, Wheeler, Harrington, Robin, and even Heather when she had come back to her consciousness had been forced to sign some kind of contract still. Billy didn’t know exactly what was in it because when they pulled him aside to sign his, Heather had hissed that they couldn’t make him because he was still only seventeen and anyway he had to go see the medic and to get out of their way. 

The kids had all been fine, except for El’s leg. A few bruises and scrapes but otherwise unharmed physically. Harrington had gotten the shit beat out of him again. Seemed to be a pattern of his. Both he and Robin had also been drugged to the gills with something that Billy was rather jealous he hadn’t gotten to try. He and Heather had been fine except for vomiting black goo for days. Well, Billy had gotten a few injuries thanks to having been in a car accident and such, but it was nothing worse than what his dad doled out on a regular basis. 

There had been a facility. Heather and Billy had been forced to stay in one room while they were observed for any more signs of possession. Apparently, Steve and Robin had been put in another room because the government wanted to ensure there were no side effects from the drugs. Either way, they all got out in less than a week. 

Over a month had passed since that night. It had been a month of dodging awkward conversations with kids who still hated him but who suddenly wanted to chat with him and say things like "I guess since you did risk your life for El's that we can put you on a probationary standing." He hated that kind of shit. He hated the way they weighed his actions each day, adding and deducting points for anything from giving Max some spare change for the arcade to a slightly raised voice when he had to get her to leave a few minutes before she was ready. It wasn't even just the kids. Harrington would be there at times and no matter how pretty the guy was, Billy couldn't stand the way he sometimes treated Billy like he was some project like he was an animal learning how to be tame. With each passing day, he reminded himself that he wouldn't have to deal with it much longer, and when they dragged him along to their little secret party meetings, he sat silently away from the others, not speaking unless Joyce or Hopper addressed him directly and even then only to give polite if short and cold answers. Heather would always find her way to his side and would sit with her thigh pressed against his. They seldom spoke to each other in front of the others. They didn't need to. They just sort of knew what the other needed, not that the others knew that. Regardless, he had no interest in joining their little Party or whatever. Instead, he bided his time, waiting for his moment to escape until the day finally arrived. He wasn’t even surprised by the early birthday gift of several bruises and a few welts decorating the backs of his thighs. He had played through various scenarios of how to escape depending on if his arms or legs or ribs were more injured. What he hadn’t planned on was having company when left. 

Curled up in the passenger seat of the Camaro was none other than his former partner in crime: Heather Holloway. Whatever. He could deal with her once he was out of the reach of his dad. He threw the last of his things into the backseat and locked the door behind him before he even bothered to start the engine. 

Heather cast a knowing look his way but made sure her own door was locked. There was a can of mace clutched in her other hand. Billy nearly dropped the key when he spotted it. 

“Relax,” she murmured. “I was only going to use it if he tried to stop you.” She knew. Their minds had been linked after all, for much longer than his and El's had been.

He willed a grin onto his face. The bruise on his jaw twinged in warning. “Well, if you do decide to spray me with it, make sure it’s not while I’m driving. You’d just end up killing us both in that case.” He back out of the driveway as swiftly as he could manage. 

A flash of red hair in the upstairs window alerted him that Max was awake and that she had spotted him despite the fact that it was only five in the morning. She had either had another nightmare or she had been playing on her walkie talkie again. They had gotten slightly closer. Well, they at least had a truce of sorts, but they weren't close enough for Billy to trust her completely yet. Luckily, she shouldn’t suspect anything. For how smart she was on certain things, she was completely oblivious in others. No, she wouldn’t begin to suspect anything until late that night. Hell, she might even unknowingly cover for him by mentioning to Neil that she had seen him drive away with some girl before it was daylight. They would all think he was spending his birthday screwing his way through the town’s supply of girls like the slut Neil claimed he was. 

“Billy, I would never intentionally hurt you.” Heather’s voice was serious rather than a playful threat that he had been hoping for, and she was extra careful when she tucked the mace away inside of a protective bag that she then stored under the seat. Sometimes it wasn’t fair how Harrington had gotten the lesbian that could cover up her care with sarcasm while Billy got the one that switched between playing big sister and therapist. 

He must have been projecting too much because Heather rolled her eyes. “Stop wishing you had gotten Robin. No one should be pining for her more than I do.”

Billy chuckled. “You know I love you best right?”

“You better.” She toed off her shoes and propped her feet on the dash. 

“You’re getting awfully comfortable there.”

“I figure we’re in for a long drive, so I might as well.” 

Billy snorted. “And just how far were you planning on going?”

“As far as you.”

Billy tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. He had thrown all his jewelry in his bag the night before, and he hadn’t felt like trying to dig out his rings just for driving. “Heather, this isn’t some road trip. I’m not planning on coming back.”

“I know. You would have told me in advance if this was a road trip. Maybe even invited me along. Instead, I bet you were planning on showing up at my place on your way out, mumbling some emotionally-stunted goodbye, and then speeding off in your car with a promise to write.”

Damn. She knew him well. 

“How did you know…?” 

“You’re my best friend.”

She replied cheekily. yeah. That was it. Not the psychic connection.

“Yeah, but how did you even know what time? I didn’t know when I would manage to sneak out.”

Heather turned to face him. “I didn’t know what time. I climbed in your car at the stroke of midnight and have been waiting for you ever since.” 

Billy glanced in the backseat where sure enough Heather’s bags were stored. There were a blanket and pillow stashed on top of them along with a thermos and an empty Poptart wrapper. 

“I don’t deserve you.” 

Heather gave him a soft smile. “You do,” she promised. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’m eighteen, and there’s nothing for me here.” The _my parents are dead and partially by my own hands_ went unsaid.

“What about Robin?” 

Heather shook her head. “There’s nothing between us. We don’t even know if she’s actually a lesbian.” 

“We know,” he assured. 

“Yeah, well, if I have to choose between a potential romantic partner and a definite best friend, I’m going to pick the friend. Besides, I bet you could show me lots of pretty girls in California.” 

“You’ll have your pick of pretty girls.” 

“And we don’t even have to sneak you into clubs anymore. Did I mention how glad I am that you finally joined us in the adult ranks, little baby boy? How did you even manage to make it into our grade in the first place?”

“Cut off date for kindergarten is September 1st.” With his birthday landing on August 31st, he had always been the youngest in his grade. Though that was something that very few knew about. 

“Shit, you really did just make it then.” 

“Mhmm.” The house was getting farther and farther behind him, and with each mile, it became a little easier to breathe. “Have to make a pit stop.” 

“Already?” 

“Yeah. I have to grab the rest of my things.” 

It hadn’t been easy. He had been sneaking his things out for months. Some of it he had hidden in the lockers at the community pool. His boss had been nice enough to let him even without Billy telling him the real reason. At the time it had seemed like a great idea, but now he dreaded having to go in there and see that sauna again. Heather seemed just as hesitant, but her hand still reached for the door at the same time as his. 

“Here, take the driver’s seat. If he comes, we’ll need to get out fast.” 

If he came they would be shit out of luck. He would chase them down until the Camaro ran out of gas, and then he would beat Billy and drag him back. However, it worked as an excuse to keep Heather in the car. Billy was quick. He grabbed the boxes of books and records and squeezed them into the trunk. He would have kept them there the whole, but his dad had been snooping the past few months and breaking anything he found in the car. 

When he slammed the trunk shut, he noticed that there was a warm sensation on the back of his thighs where the welts were. He would have to check that out when they reached the first motel. He circled back around to the driver’s side and motioned for Heather to get out. 

She was singing along to the radio, and she did a little dance as she stepped out of the seat. For a moment it was all smiles and laughs until he brushed past her to climb into his seat. Her hand darted out and snatched him with a finger through his back belt loop. 

“Freeze.”

She used her other hand to press on his lower back until he was slightly bent over. He flushed and tried to pull free as he was suddenly reminded of how moms checked their toddlers’ diapers. 

“I’m trying to see what’s on the back of your pants.”

That didn’t make him feel any better. Was it a normal thing for girls to check each other’s butts for stains? Wait. Nope. He did not want to think about that. He freed her finger out of his belt loop and turned around to face her. “It’s fine. We can worry about it later.”

“Billy, that’s blood.”

“It’s nothing too bad.”

“Well, you’re not driving until you let me check that it’s not too bad. Get in the backseat and lay on your stomach. I’ll drive to the hotel.” 

They had a stare-off. Heather gave him the same look she had given the troublemakers in the Kiddie Swim Class, and Billy knew he had lost. 

“Will you at least stop at McDonald's for breakfast?” 

Heather’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “I’ll even buy, birthday boy.” 

He slid the map with the marked route out of his pocket and handed it over. Then he climbed into the backseat. He was too tall to lay on his stomach, but he managed to curl up on his side with Heather’s pillow tucked under his head and her blanket wrapped around him. Wait. Not a blanket. It was an entire duvet because that was Heather’s thinking. That was fine though because he was going to just use it to hide under at the McDonald’s window. 

He hadn’t slept at all between his beating and sneaking out, and the exhaustion was creeping up on him. Heather had put one of her own tapes in and was playing the music at an extremely low volume. After a few minutes, she started singing along again. With her voice floating in his ears and the smell of her shampoo on the pillow, it felt like Heather was surrounding him, and he fell asleep feeling completely safe for the first time in years. 

*********

Heather was a liar. A dirty rotten liar who said nothing but lies. 

“I thought we were getting McDonald's for breakfast.” 

“We are,” she replied, “but first, we are stopping in this rest area and you are letting me check out those injuries. Don’t worry. They will still be serving breakfast when we get there.”

“You already passed the McDonalds.” Yes, he was pouting, but he had really been looking forward to his sandwich. Instead of stopping at the closest McDonalds to Hawkins, Heather had let him keep sleeping and driven for about three hours on her own. 

“There are many McDonalds in the world, and right there’s a sign saying we’re going to hit another one in less than two miles. Now get up and sneak into the private bathroom with me, or I will make you drop your pants right here in the parking lot, mister.” 

Billy grunted and pushed himself up. It took a few minutes to untangle himself from the duvet, but eventually, he was free. He stumbled beside Heather on half asleep legs. The rest area was nearly empty, and they barely had to make an effort to sneak into the private bathroom without being spotted. 

Heather had carried in a backpack with and was standing at the sink unpacking a first aid kit. Apparently, she had also had time to run into a pharmacy while he had been sleeping because she also pulled out a plastic bag with some extra supplies in it. 

“Did you actually wear underwear today?” she asked casually while she washed her hands. 

“Yes,” he mumbled. 

“Good. Take those off then.” She waved a hand at his jeans. “Oh wait!” She pulled a bunch of paper towels out of the holder and placed them on the floor. 

“What are those for?” 

“You are not standing barefoot on this floor. Stand on the paper towels while you get those off.” 

Heather had taken the required first aid course seriously. She had scoffed when the instructor told them that in almost every occasion they should just call for professional help, and then she had gone out to the local community college and signed up for an actual in-depth first aid class that they had. 

Billy did as he was told, hopping awkwardly on the paper towels to tug off his shoes and slip out of his jeans. Heather bagged them in a plastic bag as soon as he handed them over. “Don’t worry. I’ll be able to get the stains out.”

He didn’t mention that he was also good at getting blood stains out of clothing. She had him bend over the sink and then she knelt on the paper towels behind him. 

“I will say that this is the first time I’ve been in this position with a lesbian.” He tried to break the weird atmosphere. 

It worked. Heather snorted. “Yeah well, don’t get used to it.”

She didn’t say a word about the bruises on his ribs or the obvious one on his face. There wasn’t much they could do for those. She focused instead on the open wounds and cleaning them first with an antibacterial soap and water. 

“Belt?”

“Branch. Made me go out and cut it off myself. Special occasion after all.” 

Heather’s hands paused for only the briefest of moments. 

“Billy,…”

He could hear the hesitation in her tone like she was bracing herself for an argument. He was really hoping to not get into a fight with her over a visit to the hospital. The injuries definitely didn’t feel bad enough for that. 

“No hospitals or doctors,” he muttered. They had made good time, but he wouldn’t feel comfortable until he was well out of Indiana and not just a state over. 

“No, not that, but Billy, you’re going to have to take your underwear off. Some of the wounds go up that high.” 

She didn’t sound awkward about it. She just had that tone she used when she thought Billy might try to argue with her and she was going to have to go around in circles until finally, he admitted she was right. To be fair, that was a good bulk of their conversations, and also at that moment Billy suddenly felt like the hospital was a less embarrassing option. Sure he was used to being naked in front of guys in the locker room. He loved showing off his body, but this was definitely different. This was Heather.

“Billy, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” 

“Ugh. Fine.” He reached for the waistband. 

“Gentle!” Heather urged. “The fabric’s going to stick, and if you pull it will make it bleed worse.”

Billy had never thought his life would come to this. Bent over a public bathroom sink with his bare ass in the air and lesbian on her knees behind him. Nope. This was definitely not how he had planned on spending his 18th birthday. Heather even had to go in with a pair of tweezers to remove the splinters the branch had left behind. She was gentle when she disinfected the wounds, but no matter how gentle she was it still stung. Billy was grasping at the counter by the time she applied the ointment. 

“You’ll need to lay in the back for another hour while that dries, but then you should be fine to drive for awhile.” She handed him a spare pair of underwear and some very soft sweatpants to put on. 

“Do I get my McDonalds now?” 

“Yes,” she promised. “And I’ll even get you a Happy Meal.”

“It’s like you live to embarrass me.”

“It is a plus.” 

Billy ended up with his Happy Meal, two “adult” sandwiches, and a fried apple pie. Heather kept driving while they ate and once the hour had passed, she relinquished the driver’s seat back over to Billy. 

“You have to tell me if it starts to hurt, or if you feel like they’re bleeding again.” 

Billy promised, and then he cranked up the music. 

“What part of California are we going to again?” 

“Anywhere but San Diego.” 

“Are you sure any part of California is safe?” Heather had heard things of Neil’s friends, and their loyalty to him. She knew he had friends in the police force, and that they would not be above arresting Billy for false reasons. 

“I don’t know where else to go,” he admitted. 

Heather leaned her head over. “Well, I might know a place, but it’s not out west.” 

“Where is it?” 

“South.”

Billy cringed. “What the fuck is in the South?” 

Heather laughed. “Just a little place called New Orleans.”


	2. 02

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heather and Billy arrive in New Orleans

It turned out that Heather had an aunt in New Orleans. Heather had been out to visit her a few times before her parents figured out that Aunt Cindy happened to be in a relationship with a black man and was also an open supporter of same sex rights. They had disowned her, and Heather hadn’t been allowed back to New Orleans in over five years. 

“If we don’t like it, we can always go to California next.” Heather waved around the map she had picked up somewhere along the way. Actually, she had an entire collection of maps. 

Billy shrugged. “What the hell. Let’s do it.” 

To be fair, it did take a lot less time to drive to Louisiana than to California even with Heather’s insistence that they stop at the weirdest places. At one point she even bought him a small premade birthday cake from a grocery store they stumbled across, and they had an impromptu picnic in a park in Memphis. They stayed there until the sunset, and then Heather insisted on getting them a room in a clean looking hotel. 

“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Heather twirled the phone cord around her fingers while Billy scrubbed at his hair and tried not to feel awkward about the fact that he was standing there in nothing but a towel waiting for Heather to finish her call before checking on his welts again. 

Heather let out of sigh of relief. “Thank yous so much. We should be there sometime tomorrow afternoon. Love you too. Bye.”

“She cool with it?” Billy asked after Heather hung up. 

“Not only is she cool with showing us around, but she also wants us to stay with her until we find something more permanent. She said there was no point wasting money on a hotel when their house is plenty big enough. Down now.”

Billy rolled his eyes but climbed onto the bed. He lay on the towel Heather had already put there and hid his face in his arms when she reached for the one that was wrapped around his waist. It didn’t take as long as earlier, but Heather was still thorough in making sure that each welt was clean and disinfected. 

“That’s good. Put on your pants while I wash my hands.”

“Are you certain that they are okay with both of us staying with her?”

“Absolutely,” Heather called back from the bathroom. Billy wiggled his way into another pair of loose sweatpants. 

Heather hopped into the bed and patted the spot next to her. Billy grabbed an armful of the vending machine snacks and tossed them in the middle of the bed before joining her. 

“So I hate to rain on your birthday parade,” Heather started. “But are you ready to discuss some logistics now?” 

Nothing short of the sudden appearance of Neil or another Mindflayer could rain on his birthday parade right then. He had stuffed himself with McDonalds, birthday cake, and an assortment of premade grocery store foods. He was well out of Hawkins and staying in a hotel that was much nicer than he was used to. (Heather had insisted.) No one was yelling at him or acting like his birthday was an inconvenience. Billy couldn’t remember the last time he had actually had someone around that celebrated his birthday and not treated it like some kind of hassle. 

“Yeah, I guess,” he mumbled. 

Heather let out a long sigh and grabbed the hotel notepad and pen. “Okay, let’s start with a budget,” she began. They found out between the two of them they were actually pretty set for a while in terms of money. Billy had savings from years of part-time jobs and making sure his workplaces paid him at least half the money in cash so that he could hide it away before Neil could see the total and demand his “share” of it. He also had a savings account his mom had set up when he was a baby, and that he could now officially access. He would have to drop by one of the bank branches once they reached Louisiana, but Billy was pretty certain that he had at least a couple thousand in there. 

Heather had job savings as well, but she also had the money she got when she sold her parents’ house shortly after their deaths as well as everything they had left her in the will. It turned out that Heather’s parents had actually been pretty well off, like the Harrington kind of well-off. “If we’re splitting the rent on a reasonable sized place, I could live off of it all for years,” she admitted. 

Billy knew not to bring up Heather’s parents too much. It wasn’t that they had been bad. She certainly hadn’t hated them, but the three of them had been in an awkward place. 

“It’s better to at least work part-time. Besides, what would you do otherwise?”

“Yeah, I know.”

Billy dug through the pile of vending machine snacks they had piled between them. “Stay with your aunt for a while. Find a reasonable place to rent. Find some kind of work. Stay out of Hawkins. Do we need more plans than that?”

Heather let out a breathy laugh. “No, I guess not. Not for now anyway.”

“Then we’re good.”

Billy’s internal clock woke him up well before their planned time to set off, but he didn’t move. Instead, he stared at the floral wallpaper of the room and tried to rid himself of the anxiety he could feel building in his chest.

“You’re projecting,” Heather mumbled into her pillow. 

“What if El tracks us? What if they drag us back?”

Heather forced her eyes open. “That would be illegal.”

“Hopper’s chief of police.”

“Still illegal.” 

Billy couldn’t help thinking that those kids would worry that they had disappeared, not because they were worried for their well-being but because they would assume Billy and Heather were possessed again or a danger to society. They would decide that Billy and Heather should be dragged back and watched, kept from going anywhere. The adults would go along with it because for some reason those adults were pushovers who didn’t know how to say “no” and stick to it. 

Billy’s body went cold. They were going to force him back. If it wasn’t Neil controlling him or the Mindflayer possessing him, then it was the kids trying to analyze him, and they had El. El could actually stop him once her powers were back. Oh shit. He was never going to be free. 

“Billy, baby, breathe.” Heather grabbed for his hand and placed it on her own chest. Of course, she would feel his anxiety. “Follow my breaths.” 

“I can’t,” he wheezed. 

“Breathe.” She kept trying the exercise, but it wasn’t working.

Several moments passed, and Billy felt like he was close to passing out. Heather unsuccessfully tried to hide her own panic. She watched at Billy grew paler, and then she hummed. “Breathe, Billy.” 

Heather’s eyes glowed blue, and Billy was suddenly breathing. 

“What..what was that?” he asked after a few moments. Heather shrugged, looking away. Her hand never left his chest. 

“Don’t know,” she murmured. “It’s been happening since the mall. I just sing or hum, and people-they listen.”

“Another secret then.” 

Just like their connection was. The Mindflayer had left the two of them forever linked. It wasn’t a particularly strong link. They had both seen the other’s pasts. They had seen glimpses of everything the other could remember, and if they focused hard enough they could summon certain memories to them. However, they couldn’t read each other’s thoughts, not clearly. All they could get was the idea of what the other was thinking or feeling. In the hospital, they had both come to the awareness at the same time, and they had both agreed to keep their mouths shut about it. Neither had wanted to become an experiment. 

“What about you?”

“Nothing like that, but…”

His body had felt different. His senses had heightened leaving him a bit more sensitive to noises and smells than before. His limbs felt more pliable. In his dreams, he imagined his hands shifting into paws or talons, but that was nonsense. It had to be nonsense. 

“Tell me if you can…,’ he held out a hand and concentrated. His fingernails elongated. The peach fuzz on his skin turned to fur. He stopped when his bones started to ache. 

“Cool. So you’re like a werewolf, and I’m what…”

“I think I can do more than a wolf,” he muttered. “But siren. I think…probably a siren. Like in the stories.”

Heather’s eyes flickered. No doubt searching for the stories his mom had told him about merpeople and sirens while they sat on the beach and watched waves. 

“So, some kind of animal shifter and a siren. I wonder if we would be the good guys or if we’re the monsters.” 

Billy snorted. “We’re probably just the side characters.”

Heather made a sound that was something like amusement and stretched back out in the bed. “C’mon, let’s go back to sleep and dream up better stories for ourselves.” Billy let her tug him into her arms. She was clingy when she slept, and there was no point in trying to resist. She would roll her way over and grab onto him like an octopus no matter how far apart they started the night. 

They woke again late in the morning, barely managed to grab some pastries and fruit from the free breakfast bar, and then started the rest of the drive. 

“You’re sure your aunt is safe?”

He was glad that he didn’t have to explain what he meant to heather. She knew. 

“She’s the safest, and trust me, if that chief is dumb enough to try to drag us back, there’s no way he would get through her or Uncle Max.’

A part of Billy couldn’t help but think there had to be some kind of catch, no matter how many calming vibes Heather was trying to project on him, but he tried to embrace it all. Then they hit the bridges that led into the city, and suddenly, it wasn’t as difficult to feel calm. There was so much water. Blue rivers, lakes, and oceans. Billy was overwhelmed by it all and at the same time he felt more at home than Hawkins ever made him feel. 

“I told you that you would like it,” Heather teased, and Billy allowed himself to breathe deeper. 

“Yeah, maybe.”

As soon as they entered the city limits, Heather took over the driving. She had more patience than Billy, and since her aunt lived in the heart of the city, patience was necessary. Many curses and driving down the wrong streets later, they arrived at the pastel-colored house. Aunt Cindy was seated on the balcony waiting for them.

“The gate’s open. Park as best you can!” She shouted down to them, and by the time Heather squeezed the Camaro between the two houses and into their parking area, Cindy had made her way down to them. 

“My little rebel!” she shouted, wrapping her arms tightly around her niece. She was younger than Billy had expected. Not quite thirty even if he had to guess. Her hair was so dark that it ran blue in the sunlight, and her skin had a warm golden hue of someone who spent plenty of time outdoors. “And this must be your dashing companion. Billy, right?” she asked when she finally pulled away from her niece. 

Billy nodded and tried not to flinch when he was pulled into an equally warm hug. “Welcome to New Orleans,” she told him. She smelled like powdered sugar and strong coffee. Her restaurant, Heather’s memories supplied. When she pulled away from him, she smiled. It wasn’t anything like how the moms at the pool had smiled at him, and Billy hoped it would stay that way.

“Uncle Max will be back at the end of this week, but he said for both of you to make yourselves at home and he hopes you’ll stay long enough for him to get back at least.”

“He’s not here?”

“The orchestra’s still on tour. He’s been in New York, Chicago, everywhere you can imagine. I can’t wait until the tour’s over, and they’re back to performing at the local theater.”

Billy summoned a few of Heather’s memories: uncle Max wearing a suit and white gloves standing in front of a large classical orchestra and conducting with graceful movements. Heather’s amazement at it all. The way the music sounded like it was something too beautiful for mere humans to produce. 

He was pulled from his thoughts by Cindy reaching around to grab one of their bags. “Let’s get you two unpacked, so I can get y’all some real food to eat. If I know teenagers, you two have probably eaten nothing but fast food and vending machines on your way down here.”

“There was a breakfast buffet too,’ Heather protested, and Cindy cackled in delight. 

She showed them to the guest bedrooms. The house was old and had that narrow but long shape that was popular in the French Quarter. There were apparently five bedrooms, and he and Heather were given two that were closest to each other.

“Do I ask how your aunt and uncle can afford a place like this?” Billy whispered to Heather once they were alone. There was no way the average conductor and restaurant owner could afford such a place. 

She shrugged. “Family money, I guess.” She plopped down on the bed and stared up at the canopy. 

“And why are the rooms so-”

“Perfect for us?” 

Heather’s room was painted her favorite shade of purple. Billy’s room was the perfect shade of teal. Portraits of ballet dancers hung on Heather’s walls and the latest issues of her favorite magazines were stacked neatly on the end table next to the bed. There were a variety of music players in Billy’s room and records and tapes of his favorite artists. There were even a few pieces of clothing in their sizes and styles tucked into the wardrobes in their rooms. 

“Yeah,” he licked at his lips. 

“I…I’m not sure. I’ve called her a few times. Maybe I mentioned…” 

The sound of someone clearing their throat had them both turning to the doorway. Cindy leaned against the door-frame. “Come downstairs and have some food.” Billy took a closer look at her, mostly at the tattoo inked into her wrist. He focused for a minute, letting his eyes become that of a hawk. With the enhanced vision, he was able to pick out the differences in ink, and the stiffly drawn “02” stood out in the midst of the ink. 

Cindy caught his glance and sighed heavily. “I think we have a lot to discuss.”


End file.
